MERCY ME....

Mercy Me: Psalm 51
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”

We all have moments in our lives that shape who we are. Some of those moments are the struggles that emerge from what is really in our hearts.

For David one of those struggles came with Bathsheba. Out of this struggle we have something amazing revealed.

Often times when we find ourselves face to face with the sin in our lives we choose to focus somewhere else. Rather than appealing to the mercy of the Lord in the face of our sin, what we actually do instead is function as our own defense attorney and present a list of arguments for our own righteousness. The thoughts behind this process are that our greatest problem is outside ourselves and not inside us. What we are saying is that our greatest need is to be rescued from the sinner in the room that caused me to respond as I did.

Here’s the point. Before you can ever make a clean and un-amended confession of your sin, you have to first begin by confessing your righteousness. It’s not just your sin that separates you from God; it is your righteousness as well.

David in Psalm 51 appealed to the one that in his life that sure to never fail, guaranteed not only his acceptance with God but also the hope of a new beginning and fresh start. He appealed on the basis of the greatest gift that has ever been given. He appeals to God’s mercy. It was his and it our only appeal; it’s the only source of our hope; Mercy, mercy me!

Excerpt from WHITER THAN SNOW by Paul David Tripp

SPURGEON on SOVERIGN GRACE

"Sometimes when I see the worst characters in the street, I feel as if my heart must burst forth in tears of gratitude that God has never let me act as they have done! I have thought, if God had left me alone, and had not touched me by His grace, what a great sinner I should have been. I should have run to the utmost lengths of sin, dived into the very depths of evil, nor should I have stopped at any vice or folly, if God had not restrained me. I feel that I should have been a very king of sinners, if God had let me alone. I cannot understand the reason why I am saved, except upon the ground that God would have it so. I cannot, if I look ever so earnestly, discover any kind of reason in myself why I should be a partaker of divine grace."

Charles Spurgeon

REFLECTIONS FROM BILL KUYKENDALL - Jacksonville Seminary

SEOUL, South Korea (Nov. 7) -- A woman in South Korea who tried to pass the written exam for a driver's license with near-daily attempts since April 2005 has finally succeeded on her 950th time. The aspiring driver spent more than $4,200 in application fees, but until now had failed to score the minimum 60 out of a possible 100 points needed to get behind the wheel for a driving test.

It took Cha Sa-soon nearly 1,000 tries to pass the written test for a driver's license.
Cha Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written exam with a score of 60 on Wednesday, said Choi Young-chul, a police official at the drivers' license agency in Jeonju, 130 miles south of Seoul.
Police said Cha took the test hundreds of times, but had no specific total. Local media said she took the test 950 times.

About a week ago, I was honored to hear my dad speak at Jacksonville Seminary (BMA Seminary) (Settle down all you ABAers, he was just speaking in chapel not abandoning the faith). It was a timely message for me on "How to STAY in ministry."

As I read this article about Cha Sa-soon, I was reminded of the challenge.

S - Stay in the SCRIPTURES. Not just to prepare sermons but for you own soul.

T - TIME. Must guard your time. Family, church, personal time. You must have boundaries

A - Stay AWAY from Situations that can look bad.We have to be extremely careful with women and how we react, relate to and interact with.

Y - Sorry dad I can't remember the y.

Should a boy who shows up at school dressed as a girl be celebrated for self-expression and transgressing the boundaries of gender roles, or should he

Boys Wearing Skirts....

What if you had 30 extra minutes on Sunday?

Kylee's Baptism

A QUESTION WE SHOULD ASK MORE OFTEN...

How many times has your mouth gotten you in trouble. If you are like me, it is more than you can or care to remember. Just the other day I went up to a student and said, "Hey I wish I was going to the U2 concert with you." Guess what, it was supposed to be a surprise. But many times is has to do with situations and things that are much more severe.

Just this past week I allowed by mouth to get me in a lot of trouble. I was soon convicted of my sin and I went to several people and apologized for the problems I caused. They were all gracious enough to forgive me and all is good.

I just so happens that the same week I was preaching through Titus 3.

Titus 3:2 says, "to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people."

So this is where I stand and it is next to a question that I need to ask for often.

IS WHAT I AM ABOUT TO DO OR SAY GOING TO MAKE THINGS BETTER OR WORSE?

I believe if I stop and ask this question I may hold my tongue more than I realize.